Steppenwolf

[Tony Hardie-Bick]

Hey Romain...

(lost the original thread this was on)

I must confess it's been ten years since I read the book, and I couldn't recall 
the part that Mozart plays. I've refreshed my memory a bit. What I got from the 
book is Hesse's complete involvement with creativity as a force; he is like a 
wise doctor. His choice of metaphors is astonishing. I'd have to read it again 
to remember more than that. I see the book as conveying an attitude of thinking; 
a movement away from the complexity/indulgence Steppenwolf-like people dream up 
for themselves, and more into open-minded action. I think all artists are 
Steppenwolf-like people.

"The Glass Bead Game" is another book that mysteriously plays with music and 
art. It is brilliant and strange; more like the music he talks about than his 
other books, which are more like "books".

Tony (HB)